Prices of school supplies also up

MANILA, Philippines — As school opening draws near, manufacturers of school supplies, particularly paper-based products, have jacked up prices due to higher costs of raw materials and foreign exchange.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said several brands of notebooks and pad paper increased prices due to the high cost of raw materials imported from China and the depreciation of the peso against the dollar.

Seven brands of composition, writing and spiral notebooks hiked prices between P1 to P4, while one brand did not make any price adjustment. But trade undersecretary Ruth Castelo said paper manufacturers gave assurance that there will be no more price increase until December.

Two brands of pencil hiked prices by P4.50 and P1 respectively, while other brands maintained last year’s prices.

The DTI said most brands of ball pens did not increase prices since last year except for three, which adjusted prices from P1 to P6.

For crayons, two brands raised prices by P2 to P10 for boxes of Regular No. 8, Regular No. 16, Regular No. 24 and Jumbo 8.

There were no recorded price movements for sharpeners, while one brand of eraser increased by P2.

For rulers, two brands hiked prices by P2 and P3, respectively.

“There have been increases in some staples but consumers can check for school items sold in bundle or promo packs which can help them save P30.75 depending on the brand,” Castelo said.

Brigada Eskwela

Meanwhile, billions worth of support are expected to pour in to thousands of public schools nationwide as the Department of Education (DepEd) has launched the annual conduct of Brigada Eskwela in preparation for the opening of classes next week.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones yesterday led the nationwide kick-off of the National Schools’ Maintenance Week at the New Society National High School in General Santos City.

Across the country, education stakeholders including students, parents, teachers and community leaders took part in school repair activities in preparation for the opening of classes on June 4.

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) and its private partners will provide more than P700,000 worth of books and construction materials to select public elementary and high schools in Luzon and the Visayas to make their classrooms and facilities more conducive for learning.

The OVP has allocated P100,000 for its Brigada Eskwela package this year, while its Angat Buhay partners donated P541,996 for the OVP’s education funds.

Fourteen schools in poor areas in Metro Manila, Cebu, Eastern Samar, Bohol, Capiz, Camarines Sur and Albay will receive the assistance in time for the opening of the new school year on June 4.

“The (Brigada Eskwela program) reminds us that educating our children is not just the job of our teachers and the schools, it’s the obligation of the parents, the community and local government too,” Vice President Leni Robredo said as she joined Brigada Eskwela at the Wawa Elementary School in Navotas City yesterday.

Support from the private sector also poured in, including from top corporations such as Nestlé, Smart and Globe that turned over various materials during yesterday’s kick-off of Brigada Eskwela.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), on the other hand, gave school supplies to 120,000 Grades 1 to 3 pupils from 400 public schools nationwide through the company’s Gamit ni Bulilit program.

Gamit ni Bulilit is NGCP’s yearly project that aims to give school bags, notebooks, pencils and other school supplies to pupils in communities hosting NGCP’s facilities.

Beneficiaries are from 166 schools in North Luzon, 55 in South Luzon, 81 in the Visayas and 98 in Mindanao.

“We focused our program on children from the lower grade levels on the idea that educational motivation is most effective during a child’s formative years,” NGCP said.  

“The program is also NGCP’s way of expressing gratitude to our host communities who, through the years, have been supportive in protecting NGCP facilities and in ensuring its safety so that everyone enjoys reliable electricity,” NGCP said.

Employees of Maynilad Water Services also helped refurbish classrooms and upgraded water and sanitation facilities in 151 public schools throughout its concession area

Maynilad kicked off its yearly participation in Brigada Eskwela with the installation of 26 bidets and replacement of busted faucets and toilet flushes at Malinta Elementary School in Valenzuela City. The company also donated 500 pieces of bottled water for the volunteers, educational signages and cleaning materials to the school.

DepEd undersecretary Tonisito Umali said the department expects the value of donations and man-hours rendered by companies and volunteers for this year’s Brigada Eskwela to exceed last year’s almost P5.4 billion.

Over the years, the value of support for Brigada Eskwela continuously increased, from just a few million pesos when it started 15 years ago to P3.6 billion in 2015 and P4.7 billion in 2016.

The number of volunteers also increased in recent years, from 11.6 million in 2016 to 12 million in 2017.

“We all know that not everything we need in our schools are provided for in the General Appropriations Act,” said Umali.  “But because of Brigada Eskwela, our schools, classrooms and facilities are a lot better.”

Brigada Eskwela is a yearly program implemented by DepEd to prepare thousands of classrooms for the new school year. The program aims to encourage the Filipino community to take a direct role in the education of the youth.

Umali said partnerships should not be limited during maintenance week, noting that engagement can happen all throughout the year.

“The concept of partnering with our community, parents and all our stakeholders to ensure quality basic education for all our children should not be construed to be achieved in just one week. It should be the entire year,” he said.

Briones earlier said that public schools nationwide are ready for the 25 million students who will return to school on June 4.

In Bicol, parents and volunteers from the Office of Civil Defense and DepEd have cleaned classrooms for 1.75 million students from kindergarten to senior high school, according to Ramon Fiel Abcede, DepEd regional director for Bicol

“DepEd has also hired some 6,000 new teachers,” Abcede said during the launch of Brigada Eskwela at the Barcelona Elementary and High School in Sorsogon province.

Region 1 is also ready to welcome more than one million elementary and high school students. “Definitely no classes under the trees in Region 1,” said Alma Ruby Torio, DepEd regional director for Region 1. –  With Janvic Mateo, Helen Flores, Celso Amo, Eva Visperas, Victor Martin, Rhodina Villanueva